Hey guys! Sorry this wasn't by the weekend, like I said it would be. I had to do a whole science project that I've had for months...oops :) Anyway, I loved hearing what you guys wanted to see. A lot of you said Clace, and I PROMISE there will be Clace and lots of it! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own TMI, only the plot is mine.
XXXX
Chapter 19:
My thumbs drummed irregularly against the steering wheel as I watched Clary walk out of her door and toward my car. I was still mentally kicking myself from last night. I had tried calling her ten times after I got home, but she sent each one straight to voicemail. Clary had never ignored me like this before. Even when she was pissed at me she would send me a text saying, "stop trying," or something like that. But last night: nothing.
She climbed through the door and stared straight ahead, not saying a word.
I waited for her to say something, but after two minutes I sighed and pulled out of the driveway. "'Good morning, Jace.' Why, good morning, Clary. How are you? 'Great, and you?' Just. Fucking. Wonderful." I mocked. Clary still sat there like a stone.
I couldn't do this all day. I was losing my mind, wondering if I'd lost my best friend because I was an idiot. I pulled over to the side of the road and looked at her.
She shifted under the weight of my gaze, but kept her eyes forward.
"Clary," I said. Nothing. "Clary, please." Still nothing. "Clarissa Adele Fray!" I nearly yelled.
Her head snapped to me in surprise. "What?" She cried.
My hands were shaking. "Please," I whispered. "Talk to me."
She picked at a loose thread in her jeans. "About?"
I ran a shaky hand through my hair. "You know what. Look, if you're pissed at me-"
She shook her head. "I'm not pissed at you," she said, her voice quiet.
"Then what is it? Why won't you talk to me?"
She glanced at me, then stared back out the window. "Jace, can we please just pretend this didn't happen?"
My jaw twitched. "Is that what you want?"
"More than anything. That is what I want."
I swallowed and put the car back in drive. "Then fine. It didn't happen." We pulled into the school a few minutes later. I put a hand on her arm, stopped her from leaving right away. "Clary?" My voice broke slightly. "Please. I know you aren't happy and I want to fix it. I can't lose you."
Clary's face softened. She leaned across the center counsel and wrapped her arms around my neck. "Oh, Jace," she breathed. "You won't lose me. Never."
I squeezed her to me tightly. It was obvious now she didn't return my feelings, and that was fine. I wouldn't push her. Whatever she wanted, whatever she needed, I would do. I couldn't lose her. She was the only thing that kept me sane.
XXXXX
After our little breakdown this morning Clary was mostly back to normal. She was a little distant, and I was still pissed at myself for making her that way.
At lunch, Magnus gave me the third degree. "You and Clary are a bit off today. Lover's spat?"
His words triggered a mixture of emotions to swirl in my gut. "No," I said quickly. Too quickly. He rose a manicured eyebrow at me. "I mean, don't call us that, and not really. We had a bit of a disagreement, but nothing serious. Everything is fine now."
Magnus opened his mouth to respond, but snapped it back shut as he saw something over my shoulder.
Before I could turn to see what it was, a hand clapped down on my shoulder, and Sebastian sat down next to me. His lips curled up in a grin that reminded me more of a grimace. "Bane. Lightwood. Or should I say Mr. and Mrs. Lightwood? Or perhaps Mr. and Mrs. Bane?" His grin/grimace widened.
Alec was trying to look angry, but I knew the flush in his cheeks was from embarrassment. Magnus, however, only twisted his lips to match Sebastian's. "Actually, we're hyphenating our names." Alec's chagrin only increased as he glared slightly at Magnus. Their relationship wasn't technically "public", but that didn't mean that everyone didn't know they were together. If it were up to Magnus, I think he would declare his love from the rooftops. Alec however…
Sebastian bowed his head mockingly. "My apologies." He turned to me. "Herondale."
I tossed my fork down onto my tray, my appetite suddenly gone. "What do you want?"
He tilted his head in faux innocence. "Can't I just have a nice chat with an old friend?"
I narrowed my eyes to slits.
He rolled his in return. "Fine. I realized that you may have had a point earlier. About Clary." I quirked an eyebrow, more surprised by his admission than the fact that I was right. "I'm not exactly her type, considering her type is, well, no one."
The annoyance I felt from Sebastian's presence was quickly being chipped away as another emotion seeped in to take its place. An emotion that was much darker: jealousy. "And your point is?"
Sebastian's jaw twitched. "I want you to help me become her type."
I barked out a humorless laugh. "You want me to help the biggest asshole in school get in my best friend's pants?" I pretended to think about it for a moment. "Hmm…no. Now get lost."
Sebastian put his hands up in a "wait" gesture. "I'll make it worth your while."
"What could you possibly have to offer me?" I spat. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Alec was trying to look distracted, but Magnus was watching our exchange with high interest.
His smirk was back. "I can help you get any girl in this school you want."
"I can already get any girl I want." Except the one I really want.
Sebastian didn't have a response to that.
I shook my head, fed up with this game. "Why do you want her anyway? She's not exactly your type either." Sebastian's type was more like blond bimbos with daddies rich enough to pay for their fake boobs.
Sebastian looked around dramatically as though searching for enemy spies. "Between you and me," he whispered, "there's a bit of a bet going on. She's a huge challenge so whoever can get her in bed first wins like, a hundred bucks."
Without hesitation, I flew out of my seat, my chair flying backwards, and landed a punch on Sebastian's cheek. He wasn't as small or weak as Meliorn, so he didn't fall like Meliorn did, but the punch was enough to snap his head to the side. And he would probably have a nasty bruise for a while.
I leaned down so close to his face that our noses were almost touching. "This bet ends now. Go and tell your asshole sheep of friends that if I hear one more word about this bet, you're all going to wish you were dead."
Sebastian flinched, then plastered a smirk back on his face. With a mocking salute, he stood and walked out of the room.
The entire room was staring at us now, but luckily no teachers were around to see what had happened. I flopped down in my chair and put my head in my hands. I felt sick. The thought of any of those scumbags laying even a finger on Clary…
"Are you going to tell her?" Magnus asked.
I picked my head up. "No. Neither are you."
Magnus gave me an incredulous look. "You know I can't do that, Jace. Clary and I have been friends since middle school. She has a right to know."
I shook my head adamantly. "Magnus, this will kill her. Trust me, I know you and Clary are good friends, but do you honestly think I would lie to her if it wasn't for a very good reason?" After her little confession last night, the last thing she needed was to hear that guys were only paying attention to her as a way to win money. Talk about a confidence killer.
Magnus didn't look convinced.
"He's right," Alec said quietly. "She doesn't need to hear that."
He seemed lost in thought, as though he were recalling a memory or something. "Alec? Is there something you should tell us?" I asked.
He fiddled nervously with his hands. "When I first came out of the closet, a bunch of girls made a bet for who could turn me straight. I ended up finding out about it, and I was so unsure of myself then that it killed me. I lost almost all progress I had made in gaining confidence." He smiled to himself. "Actually, I found out because I overheard Clary confronting a group of girls in the hallway. She was bitching them out pretty good." He glanced at Magnus, then locked eyes with me. "I owe her for that, so I won't tell her." His fierce gaze went back to Magnus. "And neither will Magnus. Right?"
Magnus grumbled something unintelligible, then: "Fine! But when this backfires, I was against it from the start."
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I fished it out and was pleasantly surprised to find a message from Clary. She had study hall this period, so we would text each other once in a while, but we hadn't been talking today because Clary had a test to finish.
It read: I'm going to the party with you Friday.
That surprised me. I would've expected her to be even more against it after the incident last night. However, I didn't voice any of this to her. I knew you'd come around ;), I sent instead.
XXXX
Thanks for reading guys! And thank you for all your reviews last chapter! They mean so much to me and I love hearing what you guys have to say :) Please keep it up for this chapter!
Question: This may be a silly question, but who is your favorite TMI couple? Clace, Sizzy, Malec? Whatever Jocelyn and Luke's couple name is? Something I'm missing?
Love always,
YesIWriteForFun
